The NSW Government has today introduced the Point to Point Transport (Taxis and Hire Vehicles) Amendment Bill 2022 into Parliament which will amend the Point to Point Transport (Taxis and Hire Vehicles) Act 2016.
Minister for Transport, Veterans and Western Sydney David Elliott said the Government has acted on its commitment and introduced the Bill to complete the deregulation of the NSW Point to Point industry and facilitate the final financial assistance scheme for owners of ordinary taxi licences.
“The NSW Government has presented the country’s most generous assistance package worth $905 million to NSW taxi licence holders.” Mr Elliott said.
“The Bill we’ve introduced today will see the delivery of much-needed financial assistance to taxi licence holders and will ensure families who paid out their hard earned cash are not left with the burden of debt.”
The NSW Taxi Council unconditionally accepted the Government’s final assistance package to NSW taxi licence holders.
Minister for Regional Roads and Transport Sam Farraway said if the Bill passes by the end of next week, the funding will be in the bank accounts of taxi owners as soon as possible.
“I am very pleased the NSW Government was able to offer a fair deal to plate holders to recognise the disruption caused to the Point to Point market by the introduction of ride-share,” Mr Farraway said.
The NSW Taxi Council will work with Transport for NSW concerning the Capital Gains Tax treatment arising from this package for each plate owner. The NSW Taxi Council will be responsible for working with individual taxi plate owners on Capital Gains Tax treatment.
Under the Bill:
- Taxi licences will be available on application for an administrative fee and be able to operate anywhere across the State
- There will be a seamless transition process for existing taxi licence holders to the new licensing system
- After the new licensing system has settled in, taxi operators will be able to set their own fares for rank and hail journeys
- Financial assistance will be offered to the owners of ordinary perpetual taxi licences, which will have zero value as a result of these reforms, and will be cancelled.
The new package provides $150,000 for every Sydney metropolitan taxi licence holder with a cap of six plates. Each regional taxi plate will be paid between $40,000 and $195,000, with no cap on the number of plates.
The industry assistance package is funded by the ongoing operation of the Passenger Service Levy for every Point to Point transport journey. The Government’s latest cash injection will see the levy increase by 20 cents to $1.20 and will finish in 2030.
